La Crosse Tribune: Downtown site best bet for casino

The Ho-Chunk Nation is closing in on a possible casino location in or near downtown La Crosse.

La Crosse County voters will be asked in an advisory referendum Nov. 7 whether they want a casino in the county. Since announcing its interest in a local casino this summer, the Ho-Chunk Nation has received more than 40 proposals and offers from property owners.

In recent weeks, tribal officials have narrowed the list of potential sites to "approximately seven," said William Boulware, an attorney for the Ho-Chunk Legislature. They planned to visit some of the sites this past week.

"The focus is to be as close to downtown La Crosse as possible," Boulware said.

Boulware said he hopes the nation will be able to announce a likely casino site sometime before the election. Based on Boulware's comments, it appears the nation is considering a development that focuses on gambling - and leaves everything else to existing businesses and facilities.

The casino proposal is opposed by the local tavern league and restaurant association, who

fear that it would include a restaurant and bar that would compete unfairly against them. They also believe patrons would spend, their money gambling instead of on food, beverages and other entertainment.

"If the facility is in downtown La Crosse, the nation would not pursue an expansive development," Boulware said. "It would have a snack bar but not fine dining. There would not be a hotel at this point if it were downtown. That would have to be negotiated with the city and the county and downtown merchants."

If the casino isn't downtown, the tribe would look at "the option of a hotel and restaurant," he said.

Boulware said the Barron Island/Yacht Club site is "a good spot," but that costs to acquire the land and clear buildings make it less viable than other options.

"Ideally we'd like a brownfield, something that's not green space," Boulware said, adding the tribe would like to "recycle and renovate" if possible. Brownfields are sites that have environmental problems or other impediments to redevelopment.

Many of the new casino proposals in Wisconsin communities such as Kenosha, Beloit and Lafayette County aren't just casinos but also include hotels, restaurants, golf courses, water parks or other activities almost mini theme parks.

"The tribe doesn't foresee that for La Crosse," Boulware said. "We see a gaming facility."

That means no convention center or large venue for entertainment. "We would do that jointly with the La Crosse Center," Boulware said. "If the casino is downtown, the tribe could work with the convention center to bring in headliners. People would come to town to see the show, gamble, eat at a restaurant, stay the night at a hotel. These things feed off each other."

To one nationally recognized casino expert, it sounds like the nation is proposing what's known as a local casino.

"A local casino is the wrong model," said William Thompson, a professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and a consultant to the gaming industry.

Thompson believes casino gambling can be economically beneficial for an area if most of the casino is a destination for patrons coming from outside the market area, generally considered a 50-mile radius around the casino.

The Ho-Chunk Nation's own economic impact study for a La Crosse casino projects 80 percent of an estimated 1.6 million patrons would come from the local market area.

Thompson is a consultant to the Lac du Flambeau Tribe, which has a deal with Lafayette County to develop a casino-resort in Shullsburg. He said a casino makes sense there because it will draw people and money to the area.

Thompson, who has done several studies on Wisconsin and Illinois casinos, said the Oneida casino in Green Bay is another example of a destination.

Boulware disagrees with the argument that a casino in La Crosse wouldn't be a destination. "Any entertainment facility that offers gaming is a destination," he said.

Large theme resorts with casinos "contribute to urban sprawl," Boulware said.

"Their effect is like a theme park with a hotel and restaurant. They create a theme area where there's a need to create tourism, rather than enhance existing tourism."

La Crosse is already a tourism destination, and a casino would help bring tourists to town 12 months a year, Boulware said.